


Three Isn't A Crowd

by Taimae



Series: L'Amour Aux Trois [1]
Category: Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side
Genre: Anxiety, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Multi, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Prologue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-02-13 22:35:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12993987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taimae/pseuds/Taimae
Summary: A year after graduating from Habataki High, Akiko Hoshino (Bambi) has a difficult time trying to explain  what she feels is a simple relationship with Arashi and Junpei.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started replying Tokimemo 3rd Story and forgot how much I loved it. Sadly, I noticed that there wasn't much fanfiction, so I figured I write some with my favorite 3P pairing with Arashi and Niina. Some divergences to the original story such as making it a little more modern as well as changing Bambi's personality a bit.

“Aki!” two girls ran up behind Akiko Hoshino, catching up with her as she waited in front of the train station near her university. Her classmates. “A bunch of us are going to be going out for drinks on tomorrow. You’re joining us right?”

“Ahh, I’m sorry you guys, I have plans that day,” Aki replied, giving a bit of an apologetic smile with a bit of a bow. “One of my kohai from my old judo club is graduating, I’ll be going to the ceremony and then hoping to catch with him and a few others afterwards,”

“Oh, you mean the cute high schooler that I see you with sometimes?” one of the girls said, snapping her fingers and then grinning. “Are you sure he’s _just_ your kohai?”

Akiko felt her cheeks burn. Here it comes. How would she put it? “Well-um, you see…”

“Oh come on,” the other girl said, rolling her eyes. “We all know that Akiko is seeing that boy from Seifu University,” the other girl said. “I saw you two in the park the other night getting _really_ cozy,”

The red from her cheeks made its way to her ears. Were they really being that obvious? They needed to find another place to meet up when he came into town. But if she could just get out of this conversation painlessly, that would be ideal.

“Wait, but I saw that high school boy kiss her on the cheek when they were shopping!”

“You were probably seeing things. She’s very clearly with Fujiyama-kun,”

The two girls continued to argue a bit and Aki felt herself growing a little anxious. She could just let them continue to argue and let them draw their own conclusions. Then again, when she let that happen, there was usually some misunderstanding. But then again, even when she was being honest about the situation with Arashi and Junpei, it didn’t necessarily make things easier either in her experience.

But still… they’d figure it out eventually.

“I’m… seeing both of them,” she finally said with a long sigh. “And yes, they both know about each other,”

Her classmates looked at each other and then back at her in silence. Just as she predicted, they gave her _the look_. The look that everyone gave her when she tried to explain herself. Expected, but it didn’t make it any less annoying. Before the conversation could continue however, an announcement went off.

_The train bound for Habataki Station will be arriving shortly._

A wave of relief came Aki. That was lucky. She honestly didn’t have the energy to explain herself right now to them. They could draw their own conclusions if they really wanted to at this point and she’d just correct them on Monday.

“I should go,” she said with a quick wave as she hopped onto the train. “I really want to make sure that I get home on time to prepare some things for the ceremony,”

As the doors of the train closed, Aki let out another deep breath and found a free seat. Well, that wasn’t too painful.

She enjoyed her university life well enough. She loved her program and was diligent in her studies. Not to mention that there was just so much freedom compared to high school.  No uniforms, or being worried about being called upon in class. Honestly, it was great. She had very few complaints.

However, one thing that she really did miss from Habataki High were her friends. First, there were Karen and Miyo, the best girlfriends anyone could ask for. Although they had questions about her love life, they never really _questioned_ her love life, if that made sense. Instead, they always gave her advice and cheered her on and she would do the same for them. Not to mention, they were used to seeing their Bambi with the two judo boys, goofing around, arm-in-arm. They never found it weird, or wrong. Speaking of those two…

Junpei and Arashi… ‘Team 3J’, as Junpei liked to call them. In his opinion, it made them sound like a cool idol group. The J was for judo of course, the thing that brought and kept them together at school. Honestly, she and Arashi always thought the name was a little bit ridiculous (An idol group? Really?), but it ended up sticking with them.

So what were they? Like Karen and Miyo, she always considered the two close friends. People that she loved. They’ve been through thick and thin together, pushing Arashi in judo, teaching Junpei to be dedicated, giving Aki confidence. For those two years, they’ve shared their secrets, tears, frustrations and dreams together. It was a shame that they weren’t able to be together like they used to, but with Arashi and Aki going to different universities and Junpei still in high school, their schedules rarely matched up.

But the more she divulged to people that didn’t know the two, it became apparent that they were more than just _friends_. And then she’d get ‘that look’. And then ‘that look’ would be followed by slightly invasive questions and comments. _Wouldn’t someone get jealous? Do they like each other? Isn’t this basically a reverse harem? How does it even work?_

And the most frustrating of them all;

_Who do you like more?_

She hated that question so much, more than any other. No one would dare ask her that about Miyo or Karen. Nor would they ask parents who was their favorite child, so why were people so inclined to ask about it when it came to Arashi and Junpei? She felt her relationship with them was pretty simple, but it seemed that everyone else around her enjoyed complicating it for her.

But this was all for another day. For now she wanted to focus on Junpei’s graduation. Finally, after all this time, they could reunite.

Aki then felt a vibration coming from her purse. Her phone. She pulled it out and turned on the screen. It was an instant message from Arashi.

 

_Arashi:_

_Just finished up practice. I’ll probably grab the bus in about an hour. I’ll be in late, but can’t wait to see you two. <3_

 

Aki smiled to herself and felt her frustrations starting to melt away.  Even a little message from Arashi was enough to put her in a good mood. She knew how busy he was with judo lately, but even he couldn’t miss Junpei’s graduation. She quickly started to type back.  

_Aki:_

_Same~!_ (o´▽`o)

_I’m on the train back rn. I’m so excited for tomorrow! Should we do a repeat of last year? Hop on stage? www_

_Arashi:_

_Heh. I think Himuro-sensei is going to keep a close eye on us so that won’t happen again._

_Aki:_

_Well, at least we got to do it once!_  (￣▽￣)

_… … …_

_I wish you didn’t live so far. I was hoping to see tonight._

_… … …_

_But I’ll send you a picture when I see Jun tonight, okay?_

_Arashi:_

_Actually, could you maybe wait until tomorrow to meet with him?_

_… … …_

_I think the three of us need to talk together. It’s important._

 

Aki suddenly felt her throat tighten. A talk… the three of them had a talk once, just a little while before they graduated. She felt herself hesitate and just look at her phone before finally typing again.

_Aki:_

_Talk about what?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the 'Cutie 3' catch up over some coffee and Bambi shares her anxieties with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey! It was gonna be two parts, but now it's three! I just had to throw in the best ladies of the series in! I've never gotten their ending, but I always loved how great they were to Bambi. I could not have gotten the 3P ending without them lowering my stress and boosting my stats. Friends always make you better people. <3

“Why are boys like this? They always say that boys are straightforward and blunt, but that’s never been the case for me,” Aki laid her head on the coffee table, letting out a frustrated groan. Across from her sat Karen and Miyo giving her sympathetic smiles.

The rest of the conversation between her and Arashi had been cryptic to say the least, if not a little bit worrisome. Arashi was dodging her questions, not answering in his usual straightforward manner. The star judoka was known for being pretty straight to the point. Why the change now? And then there was Junpei, usually the champion of social media and immediately texting back. But when she messaged him this time, all she got was a ‘Read at 6:35pm’ notification. What were those two up to? What was this big talk that they had planned? This was supposed to be a joyous occaision, and now she had this big question mark looming over her head.

“Aw, Bambi,” Karen said, patting her on the head and then sliding a coffee cup beside her. “… It’s because you’re dating the most clueless boys in Habataki. You already knew that though,”

She let out another groan. They really were clueless, weren’t they? Her sweet, handsome, caring, stupid boys. Was this all a misunderstanding? What were they hiding from her?

The auburn-haired girl finally lifted her head from the table and took the cup in her hand. She may not be able to see them tonight, but at least Miyo and Karen were here to talk to. Like the boys, she didn’t have much time to see them, seeing as they all went to different universities, but when they did have a chance to meet up, it was just like old times. Sometimes she wondered what she’d do without them.

Karen held out her hand. “Here, pass me your phone. I’m sure what he wrote can’t be that bad,”

Aki nodded and pulled out her phone, pulling up the conversation she had with Arashi earlier. “Don’t snoop through them too much though,”

The two nodded and then looked down at the phone. At first, their expressions remained neutral. But as they continued to read through the chat, their faces became increasing annoyed. Aki could see Karen chewing on the inside of her cheek in irritation as her left eye twitched slightly. Miyo was a little less animated, but still pursed her lips, as though she were trying to prevent herself from saying anything that might be deemed inappropriate.

“So he just left you hanging!?” Karen couldn’t contain herself anymore, her nostrils flaring. “That guy…do you want me to call him and yell at him? It’s not like I have to keep up appearances around him,” Arashi was well aware that Karen wasn’t just ‘the volleyball prince’ that her fans deemed her to be. She was gossip, nosy and loved to speak her mind.

“It’s fine…” Aki let out another sigh. Regardless if it was now or tomorrow, she knew she’d get her answer. But still, it was just so nerve-wracking. The tone was so serious in his texts. Then again, they were usually pretty blunt. Arashi, while passionate and honest in person, always seemed to have greater difficulties expressing it through text. She was surprised that he even managed to put a heart emoticon earlier.

Wait, that was that her first clue? Did that heart emoticon mean something? Or was she reading into it too much?

“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions anyway,” Miyo added into the conversation, sipping from her cup delicately. “You need to think carefully; would there be any reason for tomorrow’s discussion to be bad? Other than distance, have there been any other issues that may have arisen?”

“Hmmm…” Aki thought hard, her brows furrowing. In comparison to when they were first together, they didn’t really argue about anything major. They mostly just lightly teased each other, or bickered about small things. In comparison to when she realized that she started to have feelings for them, and them for her. That was a bit of a rougher time.

“Let’s rephrase the question,” Karen said, placing her chin on the palm of her hand. “Bambi, is there anything that _you_ think that this might be about? Anything that you’re worried about specifically?”

Aki bit her lower lip. There was always something that she was worried about. That was sort of her personality. On top of that, when you get questioned enough by other people, it makes you second guess your relationship even more. Makes you start to think that maybe the worst could happen.  

“I guess… I’m worried that this is going to be the end,” she let out a long sigh, the grip around her coffee cup tightening as she looked into it at her reflection. “That I’m going to have to choose, or that they’ll both want to end things with me. I know it’s not… _typical_ what we have. They must get tired of the comments too,” How many boys were okay with ‘sharing’ the girl they cared about with someone else? How many stories were out there where in a love triangle, the girl lived happily ever after with her two boyfriends rather than just the one? None came to mind. Did this make her selfish? To want to keep both boys with her rather than letting one of them go?

Honestly, what made this worse was they it was clear that Junpei and Arashi had been talking about this without her for a while. Why exclude her if they weren’t planning to break-up with her?

The two girls gave their friend a sympathetic look as she aired out her anxieties. It had been weighing on her more than she thought it would. She always felt that things would be okay, but there was always that voice in the back of her head telling her otherwise.

“Ugh, I’m sorry you guys,” she said, forcing a smile. “Our first night back together and all I’m doing is just complaining to you,”

Karen reached over and lightly tapped Aki on the head with the back of her hand, which surprised her a little. She rubbed it slightly.

“Bambi~, you always do this!” Karen replied shaking her head. “We’ve told you before; we’re your friends. If we didn’t care about you and your problems, then what kind of friends would we be?”

Miyo nodded in agreement. “We’ll always be here for you, Bambi. And we know that you’ll always be here for us too,”

Aki’s brown eyes stared blankly for moment at the both of them. Ugh, they really were the best, weren’t they? How did she manage to meet such amazing, understanding friends? Ever since their first year of high school, they were always there for her. Sometimes didn’t feel worthy, in all honesty. But that just made her want to be better for the two of them. Just like she wanted to be better for her boys.  

“You guyyyyyssss,” she wailed, leaning over the table and thrown her arms around them. “I promise I’ll always be there for you too!”

“Wah! Bambi! The coffee!” Karen exclaimed as she quickly placed her hands over the cups.

“Ah! Sorry!” Aki quickly let go of them and sat back down. “But I really do mean it! So please, let’s just move on from this conversation! I want to hear all about what you two have been up to recently!” she was determined now. She couldn’t be the only one talking about herself. It was all nice and well to share your problems with your friends… but she wanted to hear about them too.

As the night went on, Aki’s mood started to lift. The three of them laughed, gossiped, and shared wild stories and advice. Honestly, no matter what happens tomorrow, she had to remind herself, that she’d always have people that cared about her. And that she’d always have people that she cared about as well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big talk goes down, but it's not quite what Aki expects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long! I kept deleting and rewriting, deleting and rewriting... so there may be some typos! I just wanted to get this out before I changed my mind again. ^^;;

Aki sat in the back with a few other students from her year who also managed to attend the ceremony. Ruka and Kou’s hairstyles had changed, but the Sakurai brothers were still the same as always. Even Tamao-sempai and Seiji-sempai where there as well. It was certainly nostalgic to say the least.

Sitting on the right of her were Miyo and Karen, while she spotted Arashi, quickly sitting down with a big grin on his face. Her cheeks went a bit pink as she felt his arm wrap over her shoulders and pulled her for a quick kiss on her forehead. As usual, he was not one to hide his feelings, even in public. There were far too many times that she had visited him at his Judo practices and he’d loudly profess that she was his girlfriend.  

So, why was he acting so odd last night? Unless…   

She then felt a slight nudge on the other side of her. Karen raised her eyebrows slightly. Maybe it was now the time to set things straight.

“Um… Arashi-” but before she could continue, the sound of the school band started, and the principal stepped on the stage. Ugh, she’d have to ask him later.

The ceremony went as planned. As much as she and Arashi wanted to cheer for Junpei loudly when he went walked on stage, she could feel Himuro-sensei’s strong gaze. There would be nothing out of order this year, and quite frankly, Aki didn’t want to test him. Though when her eyes caught his when he turned around, she could see him grin proudly and honestly, she couldn’t help but smile with him. He finally did it. He always had difficulties with motivation, but he managed to really push himself in his final year, without hers or Arashi’s help. He’d come a long way.

Eventually, the ceremony had ended, without a hitch. As soon as Junpei could slip away, Aki and Arashi gave him a large hug, congratulating him.

“I was really hoping you guys would run on stage for me,” he said stretching his arms and putting his hands behind his head with a bit of a grin. “Ahhhhhh, but I guess you can’t beat the original,”

“Honestly, Himuro-sensei was just way too scary to try anything…” Aki replied, letting out a sigh.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he could even put me in a judo hold,” Arashi nodded.

As the three continued to walk, they found themselves in front of the old church. An infamous landmark of the city, there is a legend that goes along with it. They say that the primroses growing in the church garden were blessed by fairies and could grant wishes. Aki still remembered her wish from back then. It a was pretty typical wish for a 15-year-old girl. Good grades, great friends, and of course, her one true love, just like in any school manga or drama. All things considered, she got more than she expected. Not one love, but two. Arashi, the passionate athlete. Strong, honest and reliable. And then there was Junpei, energetic and playful, but always considerate of her feelings. She couldn’t ask for more.

Eventually, Arashi leaned against one of the trees in the courtyard and crossed his arms.

“Alright, I guess we should get this over with then,”  

Aki could feel her body stiffen. Right… the big ‘talk’. She had almost forgotten about it. Thoughts raced through her head again. Right. Truly love only meant one. Not two. And so, what would happen?

“We’ve all known each other for three years now? Four? Either way, it’s been awhile,” Arashi continued, scratching the back of his head.

Junpei nodded. It was rare to see him take anything seriously.  “We’ve been through a lot together. Which means that we really gotta talk about what comes next for us three. It’s not exactly easy, what we’re doing right now,”

What they were doing right now… Aki could feel her heart sink. She knew that it was too much for her to ask to have them both by her side, but she still wasn’t ready to talk about it. She tried to come up with some sort of explanation, a decision, and yet, she just couldn’t. It just _was_. That’s all it kept coming back to.

She took a deep breath, trying to make sure that her eyes didn’t waver too much; that she could hold back the tears.

“I don’t know if I can do this…” she said quietly, looking sadly.

The boys looked at her nervously and then back at each other. They then quickly turned around and started to whisper. She couldn’t quite catch all of it;

_Did you tell her?_

_But I already-_

_Shhh! Just be cool!_

“Before you say anything, just look,” Junpei said casually, holding out a paper. On it was a building… an apartment to be exact. It had the layout and photos of the interior, the pricing. Aki narrowed her eyes a bit, unsure of what this had to do with their conversation.

“The place is situated perfectly for the three of us. Commuting to school will be easy,” Arashi said with a grin. “And we’ll have enough space. I know it’s a big leap from living home, but I think it’d be really great,”

“Man, I’m so ready though!” Junpei grinned. “Finally, living away from my parents! A real adult!”

“You’re still totally a kid,” Arashi laughed, placing his hand on his kohai’s hair and ruffling it up a bit.

Wait…

So this was what this was all about? Moving in together? 

Tears welled in her eyes as she hit the two of them on the shoulder. The two boys let out slight yelps, a little surprised about her reaction. They looked at each other and then back at her, unsure as to whether they should comfort her or not.

“You idiots! Don’t scare me like that!” she cried, her eyes going red, her nose dripping. She looked like a bit of a wreck, but she honestly didn’t care. “I thought you were going to make me choose between you!”

“What?” Arashi said, crossing his arms. “Where did you get that idea?”

“You said that we had to talk about our future together,” she wiped her eyes and sniffled, pulling out her phone and showing the texts from the other day.   

Niina looked at the conversation between the two and groaned. “Arashi, you made it sound totally ominous! What is this ‘ _we need to make a decision’_ stuff? Ugh, no wonder she’s crying,”

“You said it should be a surprise!” Arashi flared his nostrils. “I also asked you what I should write and you said ‘whatever just make it interesting’. Don’t put this all on me,”

“It’s fine,” Aki finally said, wiping her nose on her sleeve. She still had tears in her eyes, but she managed a smile. “Of course, I’ll move in with you two. I couldn’t ask for more! Except… no more surprises via text, okay?”

She then opened her arms wide to which the boys just smiled and quickly wrapped her arms around her in a group hug. They both kissed her on the cheek to which she went on the tip of her toes to return it.  

“Here’s to our new apartment,” Arashi said, squeezing them both tightly.

“And to the three of us reunited,” Niina grinned.

“And to our new future together,” Aki ended.

Things were going to be just fine. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's a Tokimemo game without a cheesy happy ending? ;) Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! I'm sort of treating this as a prequel to a possible 'au roomates' ideas, ahaha. I would love to write more 3P stuff with them in general, so please keep an eye out! I also hope to see more Tokimemo fanfics in general in the future! It's so tough to find stuff in English!!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed my take on Bambi~. I figured I'd kind of write her as someone who is sort of realizing that she's polyamorous without really knowing the language to use.


End file.
